Sport shooting, especially shooting with a shotgun, has become increasingly popular. Such sport shooting includes target shooting as well as trap shooting in addition to hunting. As the popularity of this sport increases, more women, novices and children are becoming interested in the sport. Additionally, competition events are becoming even more popular.
While such sport shooting is generally safe under proper conditions, there are some drawbacks to the firing of a shotgun. The drawbacks of interest to this invention are associated with the recoil of the weapon. These drawbacks may be exacerbated when the person firing the weapon is a novice, a child, or someone of slight stature who is not used to firing a weapon such as a shotgun that has a recoil. This recoil can range from slight to very heavy depending on shot size, and can be a problem if the weapon is fired repeatedly or for long periods of time, such as might occur during a competition. Such recoil may discourage some people from the sport.
Therefore, there is a need for a system that effectively and efficiently absorbs or neutralizes recoil of a weapon such as a shotgun.
The art includes many inventions that are intended to reduce the recoil felt by the shooter. An example of such an invention is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,492,050. However, inventions, such as the just-mentioned patented invention, require a gas system to reduce this recoil. Gas systems require ports and conduits, which may become clogged due to the residue associated with the powder used in ammunition fired by shotguns. Once the ports or conduits of the gas system become clogged, the efficiency of the recoil system can be inhibited if not totally vitiated. The art also contains some examples of recoil control systems that include cushions and the like. These systems do not absorb recoil, they merely alter the time the recoil is felt by the shooter. While this delaying process can be effective in some instances, it is not completely effective in all situations for all shooters.
Therefore, there is a need for a system that can be used on a shotgun that prevents recoil-associated energy from reaching the shooter, but will not be adversely affected by the products associated with the normal firing of the ammunition fired by the shotgun.
Still further, operation of weapons, such as a shotgun, may cause the barrel of the weapon to rise. While most shooters learn to compensate for barrel rise, some shooters never learn to effectively and completely compensate for barrel rise. In fact, the outcome of some competitions may even be affected by how well the competitors continue to compensate for barrel rise as the competition enters its final phases. This compensation can be affected by recoil as well if the shooter becomes tired and the recoil wears on him or her. Recoil and barrel rise are even more critical if rapid firing is required. All of the above-mentioned factors are made even more important if the shooter is young, a novice or the like.
Therefore, there is a need for a recoil reduction system that can be used on a shotgun which also reduces barrel rise associated with the firing of the weapon.
Due to the increasing popularity of shooting, many people are using shotguns for several different purposes. For example, a shotgun originally purchased for hunting might be used in competitions, or in trap shooting. It is simply too expensive for many people to purchase several different shotguns. From the foregoing discussion of recoil and barrel rise, it can be understood that there are different constraints placed on weapons used for hunting and weapons used for competition shooting. Therefore, to be most effective, a user should purchase a competition weapon if he or she already owns a hunting weapon or vice versa. This can be expensive.
Therefore, there is a need for a recoil absorption system that can be retrofit onto an existing weapon to make that weapon effective as both a hunting weapon and a competition weapon and can be changed to alter the characteristics and response of the weapon as that weapon is used for different purposes. In fact, it would be ideal if a shooter could alter the response characteristics of the weapon quickly and accurately whereby these responses could be changed to meet changing conditions, such as during a long competition or the like. This would permit a shooter to reduce recoil as a competition progresses.
Still further, if a weapon is used by more than one person, and one person is more sensitive to recoil than the other, the weapon should be set up to satisfy the needs of the more sensitive user. Therefore, in some instances, more than one weapon is required if a second shooter in the family takes up the sport. This also is expensive.
Therefore, there is a need for a recoil reduction system that can be retrofit onto an existing weapon to make that weapon useable by a shooter who is sensitive to recoil and can be changed by that shooter or another shooter using that weapon to suit his or her requirements.
The recoil absorption means disclosed in the parent application meets many of these needs by effectively absorbing recoil energy in a hand-held shotgun. While effective, the recoil absorption means disclosed in the parent application is most efficiently incorporated into the shotgun by the manufacturer. This meets the needs of new guns; however, there is a large market for retrofitting existing shotguns with a recoil absorption means such as disclosed in the parent application. This will permit those people who already own a shotgun to take advantage of the recoil absorption means disclosed in the parent application without requiring them to purchase a new shotgun. If an easily installed retrofit kit is available, a shooter could purchase several kits to modify a single weapon as necessary. They will only need to purchase a retrofit kit and modify their shotgun with that retrofit kit.
However, the modifications required to incorporate the retrofit kit into an existing weapon must be simple and inexpensive and should not unduly alter the appearance or "feel" of the shotgun, otherwise there may be little motivation for a shotgun owner to modify his or her shotgun.
Furthermore, if a retrofit kit could be modified after installation to account for changed conditions, such a kit could be installed on a single shotgun and extend the range of uses available for that weapon.
Therefore, there is a need for a retrofit kit that can be used to easily and inexpensively modify an existing shotgun to include a recoil absorption means disclosed in the parent application and which, once installed, can be modified to meet changing conditions of use.